Oh, ‘to see a hippo hero standing there’

Christmas 2018 is a milestone event for Gayla Peevey Henderson. This year is the 65-year anniversary of her hit song that was released in 1953, “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.”

Gayla recorded John Rox’s novelty song as a 10-year-old girl. Her producer at Columbia Records was the legendary Mitch Miller, who conducted the orchestra and played oboe. “In those days, you sang live with the orchestra in the recording studio,” she said. “I didn’t have to sing it that many times. I would say the third time was the take.”

She recently told a news reporter that now in her 70s, she expected her life was going to be “all about playing with grandchildren.”

Gayla Peevey Henderson may have wanted to retire…but her song hasn’t. The Hippo song has gone retro, thanks in part to Hallmark’s introduction in 2008 of a hippo-shaped ornament that plays the Hippo tune.

An article in The New York Times written by Joanne Kaufman in 2016 applauded the creativity of the holiday advertising campaign that year by the U.S. Postal Service for “adopting the Hippo song.”

“The ditty was, perhaps, unfamiliar to many listeners, but it penetrated the mind space of the unwary at warp speed – and stayed there. Resistance was futile,” Kaufman wrote.

An early black-and-white video of Gayla pausing while playing a game of jacks with her friends to perform the Hippo song has become a viral sensation.

On Gayla’s website, she tells readers: “Surprisingly, the Hippo song has gained in popularity and airplay over the last few years and…a lot of merchandise has hit the shelves, too, with my voice streaming out of everything from bouncing balls to Hallmark cards and keepsake Christmas ornaments. It’s fun for me and nice to have a legacy that puts a smile on people’s faces and a little warm Christmas cheer in their hearts.”

Gayla Peevey grew up in Oklahoma, and she started singing “practically out of the womb. I can’t remember when I didn’t sing, I really can’t.” As a pre-schooler, she was singing with the Baptist Church choir. One writer said: “Her robust voice with its country sheen was a force of nature.”

An uncle who played fiddle on a radio show broadcast from Oklahoma City arranged a guest spot for Gayla when she was 8; it led first to a twice-a-week gig on the local NBC affiliate.

Talent scouts were watching and listening in, for Gayla was invited to become a regular on “Saturday Night Revue,” an NBC variety show hosted by Hoagy Carmichael. On cue, the Peeveys moved to Hollywood, Calif.

For her debut, she was paired to sing with Dean Martin. “Plucked out of local television, it was a big jump,” she said, “but they were so nice to me.”

On Oct. 18, 1953, Gayla Peevey sang her new Hippo song on the “Toast of the Town” TV show hosted by Ed Sullivan.

Seize the day. The success of the new song prompted the Oklahoma City Zoo to launch a publicity campaign to buy Gayla Peevey a real hippopotamus in 1953, encouraging children to contribute coins.

Gayla said: “Every day in the newspaper, there was a little circle where you could tape your dime or your quarter and mail it in.” Time was short, if the hippo was to arrive on Christmas Eve. The zoo collected some $4,000 – more than enough to seal the deal.

Upon meeting Mathilda, the full-grown Nile hippopotamus that was shipped into Oklahoma City from Central Park Zoo in New York City, Gayla was instructed to say: “Oh my, there’s no room for her in our garage. I guess maybe I’ll donate her to the zoo.”

Janelle Stecklein, a reporter for the Enid (Okla.) News & Eagle, reported that Mathilda and her male hubby hippo, Norman, produced nine hippo calves during their time together.

Gayla’s life in the limelight was short-circuited when her parents chose to have her exit show business. The Peeveys moved to the San Diego area so their daughter “could live a normal life.”

That mission is still being accomplished. Gayla and her husband, Cliff Henderson, have a daughter and three grandchildren. The couple is also involved with assorted church and community activities in La Mesa, Calif.

Leaving the music business was not that difficult for Gayla. “You do have this sort of feeling that you’re a has-been at 12,” she laughed. “That was the thing I had to deal with – that I had already peaked.”

As a teenager, she learned to play the guitar and started writing her own songs. In 1959, at age 16, she recorded a love song titled “My Little Marine.” One would suspect there are local collectors who have the original 45, especially Marine Corps Veterans. Making the connection was a bit of a challenge. For some reason, record company had changed Gayla’s name to “Jamie Horton.”

To hear the softer side of Gayla Peevey, flip over “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” and listen to the B-side. It’s a tune by Mel Leven, who had much success as a songwriter with Walt Disney: “Are My Ears on Straight?”

Olive deserves a spot in ‘reindeer history’

A holiday tradition in this writer’s family is “the filling of the reading basket.” That involves stuffing it with Christmas story books – enjoyed and relived each year by both old and young readers throughout the holiday season.

Among the 60 or so books that live within the big basket during December is a personal favorite – “Olive, the Other Reindeer.” The book was published by Scholastic in 1998, so this year is Olive’s 20-year anniversary (of having been basketed).

“Olive, the Other Reindeer” is a delightfully clever holiday picture book, a perfect choice for any gramps to read together with his 6-year-old grandchild. It’s about a 10-minute activity.

The main character is a dog named Olive. She’s a rather diminutive but frisky pooch, and you might even say she looks like the dog on the box of small-sized Milk-Bone dog biscuits.

In real life, Olive was a Jack Russell Terrier. She was the pet of one of the book’s authors, Vivian Walsh. The co-writer and illustrator is J. Otto Seibold. His drawings portray Olive as a loyal dog with a spunky personality.

In the story, Olive is living in an urban environment, and in December on her daily walks, she would hear the music to the popular song, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The people were singing “all of the other reindeer.” However, Olive’s perky ears interpreted the lyrics as: “Olive, the other reindeer.”

One day, the refrain set off a bright red light in Olive’s brain, and the message was that Santa Claus needed her at the North Pole, ASAP. Traveling by bus after bus, Olive got there just in the St. Nick of time on Christmas Eve.

She reported for duty to be harnessed to the team. “Dagnabbit,” Santa exclaimed, “dogs can’t fly!” But being the softy that he is…and impressed with Olive’s grit…good ole Santa decided to take her along. He instructed lead reindeer Comet to strap Olive in, tying a sturdy ribbon tightly around her middle. And whoosh, off they went.

Santa encountered several technical difficulties on his journey that year, and the team found themselves in several scrapes. Olive proved to be a true “rescue dog,” enabling Santa to escape the various perils and complete his rounds, delivering toys around the world to good little girls and boys.

Certainly, Olive earned credentials to qualify her as a candidate to be written up in history…just like Rudolph.

However, what sealed the deal for Olive was her performance on the ride back home when the “dreaded North Pole fog” set in…‘twas “thick as a pillow.” The reindeer had lost all sense of direction on the morning of Dec. 25.

But then, Santa remembered that dogs are excellent smellers. Mrs. Claus was baking a Christmas cookie breakfast. The big man asked: “Olive, won’t you guide my sleigh this morning?” Yes indeed she would.

The elves all cheered as Olive, following her nose, orchestrated a perfect landing. After breakfast, the reindeer games began out on the lawn...with Olive joining in.

It makes perfect sense that a Jack Russell dog would appear in a Christmas story, as the breed was developed by a man of the cloth, Parson Jack Russell. The good reverend was assigned in 1832 by the Church of England as Vicar of Swimbridge, a small village along the Taw River in Devon County, which is located in southwest England.

Parson Jack faithfully served the congregation of St. James Church there for more than 40 years. He was a very popular preacher in his day, as his sermons were brief by Victorian standards. That was because his hunting horse was usually saddled and waiting in the churchyard, according to an article from the British Broadcasting Corp. archives.

Therefore, Parson Jack was dubbed “The Sporting Parson.” He was determined to develop a hard-working breed of terrier, dogs that would improve the quality of the great sport of foxhunting.

It was a quest that began around 1815, historian say. While a student at the University of Oxford, Jack Russell acquired his first Fox Terrier from a local milkman. The female dog was named Trump. Jack Russell began by breeding Trump with a Hunt Terrier.

By the 1850s, several generations of offspring had resulted in the recognition of a specific breed; it was termed the Jack Russell Terrier (JRT). Pastor Jack’s dogs “specialized” in flushing foxes out of their foxholes, rather than maiming or killing them.

JRTs “enjoy a good run and a good chase,” especially to “terrier-terrorize” foxes and other critters such as deer, coyotes, badgers, otters, polecats, weasels, wolverines and rabbits. JRTs have high energy and stamina, but they do tend to bark a lot, a trait that both “gained the attention of their masters and frightened burrowing animals from their holes.”

Pastor Jack Russell died in 1883, and his body is buried in the churchyard at Swimbridge.

The nearby village pub was renamed the “Jack Russell Inn” in his honor. The pub sign is a reproduction of a painting of the noble Trump.

‘Military Friendly’ is our state of mind

Official green “Welcome to North Carolina” highway signs stand straight and tall to inform travelers that they have arrived within the boundaries of the “Nation’s Most Military Friendly State.”

The North Carolina Department of Transportation began installing the signs in 2010 at the state borders along the interstate routes as well as US Route 17. Funding for the project was provided by the North Carolina Bankers Association.

While the message on the state welcome signs proudly recognizes that the armed forces play a key role in North Carolina’s economy, The Fayetteville Observer asked: “Does saying it make it so?”

While it may be true that actions speak louder than words, words can lead to action.

What if North Carolina were to take its military friendliness to a higher level?

Would it be too radical to spell Veterans with a capital “V” in all cases when referring to individuals who served admirably in the military?

The North Carolina General Assembly ought to be able to get that done by passing legislation to capitalize the word Veteran in all official communications. This sounds like a good project for Larry D. Hall, Secretary for the North Carolina Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, an appointee of Gov. Roy Cooper. (Hall was a Marine Corps officer and had represented Durham County in the General Assembly for many years.)

The N.C. Veterans Affairs Commission is an advisory body under Hall’s wing, so these people could help as well. Additional support for “uppercase V” could come from the Military Host Cities Coalition, which unifies local governments in the hometowns of principal military installations – namely Jacksonville, Havelock, Goldsboro and Fayetteville.

There is also a thread of precedence found at the federal level. The U.S. Veterans Health Administration’s Graphic Style Guide specifies that “Veteran be capitalized at ALL TIMES.”

We can learn more from studying an initiative in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. There, a local business woman, Kristin Courtney, launched a petition drive in 2017 that stated:

“We, the undersigned, citizens or residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to spell Veteran with a capital V in official government communications when referring to those who went through their military service, have made and continue to make tremendous sacrifices for our country, in order to distinguish them from individuals with much experience in a particular field.”

“It seems like such a small gesture, but I feel our Veterans are most worthy of this distinction.” Courtney added.

She has the support of at least one Member of Parliament. John Oliver, who sits in the House of Commons, representing Oakville, wrote a guest column for The Oakville Beaver, a weekly community newspaper, stating that he’s 100 percent behind Kristin Courtney on this subject.

Oliver said the observance of the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in April 2017 was an occasion when “Canadians from all walks of life paused to pay tribute to the brave members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force who achieved victory at Vimy Ridge” in France during World War I.

“This battle is considered by many to represent a defining moment in Canada’s history, and it serves as a poignant example of the courage, ingenuity and resourcefulness of Canadian forces,” he said.

The four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, attacked the ridge from April 9-12, 1917, and captured it from the German army. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war.”

Oliver added: “It is important to remember not only the glory of this victory, but also the loss of almost 4,000 Canadian lives and the wounding of 7,000 more. One hundred years later, the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces remains a point of pride, admiration and gratitude.”

The interest in uppercasing the V in Veteran, gained a new wave of exposure during Canadian Armed Forces Day on July 28, 2018, at the RBC Canadian Open men’s professional golf tournament, hosted in Oakville at the Glen Abbey Golf Club. Live coverage of the four-day tournament was televised by CBS Sports and the Golf Channel.

At this official PGA event, viewers saw a spectacular display of Canadian patriotism. Active duty military members in uniform were present to congratulate all golfers on their finishing holes.

Independent of government, perhaps some of North Carolina’s news media outlets could get this “V is for Veterans” ball rolling within the state by thinking outside the book (as in the Associated Press Stylebook) and begin capitalizing the word Veteran when the noun applies to former military personnel.

Let’s teach our children that “V is for military Veteran.”

Sister Jean returns to college hoops scene

College basketball season has begun, and everyone’s rooting for America’s favorite team chaplain, “Sister Jean.”

She is officially listed in the Loyola University Chicago program as Jean Dolores Schmidt, age 99, a sister in the religious order of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) for 81 years and “a beloved member of the greater Loyola community.”

Aaron Cooper, a communications officer at Loyola-Chicago, said: “Since becoming chaplain of the men's basketball team in 1994, Sister Jean has shown her dedication to Loyola’s student-athletes above and beyond just their spiritual health. She believes athletics affords valuable lessons for young people about how to deal with adversity in life.

“At home games, she can be seen working the crowd, encouraging school spirit and friendly competition and leading the players in prayer before each game.” She also scurries about on campus, getting to know the students and “bringing happiness and joy into their lives,” Cooper wrote.

In the 2018 NCAA tournament, Loyola-Chicago made it all the way to the Final Four, thrusting the coach, chaplain, players and campus into the national spotlight. It was the classic Cinderella story for sports fans the world over.

Brian Rauf, who covers college basketball for the Busting Brackets fan-based website, said Loyola’s run in the tournament was incredible – Loyola Chicago was “just the fourth No. 11 seed ever to make it that far” – to the semi-final game.

Sister Jean was there on the sidelines with her maroon and gold Loyola “lucky scarf” wrapped around her neck. (She also has her own special line of senior silver sneakers with Velcro snaps.)

Sister Jean gave Cooper the inside story about her basketball prayers. She said: “I begin with, ‘Good and gracious God…today we hope to win this game; we ask you for courage – we already have the confidence, we’re focused, we know we want to work hard. At the end of the game, we want to be sure that when the buzzer goes off that the numbers indicate that we get the big W.’”

Dr. Carol Scheidenhelm, a university administrator, told the Chicago Sun-Times: “Whether Loyola wins or loses, we have embraced the lessons of the importance of working together, the power of prayer and the goodness of others that Sister Jean exemplifies. In this era when incivility runs rampant and politics are contentious, these lessons may be the most positive thing that comes from the ‘Madness’ of 2018.”

What will Loyola-Chicago do for an encore in the 2018-19 season?

Opponents should be wary for two reasons. First, Sister Jean revealed to Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated: “I have a new bobblehead. I had one before, but they updated it to make me grayer.”

Second, in a pep rally environment at an annual campus function in September, Loyola-Chicago honored Sister Jean by presenting to her the “Sword of Loyola,” the university’s highest award.

Sister Jean said: “This was a team effort; I accepted it in the name of our students. What I did was just serendipitous. It was really those young men who got us to the Final Four; they brought such honor to Loyola and really put us on the map.”

“I thought to myself, ‘I don’t know what I’ll do with a sword,’” she said. ‘I know, I’ll raise it high for the students. So, that’s what I did. I took it and raised it high for the students.’”

Loyola-Chicago is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, and head coach Porter Moser’s squad returns four of its top seven scorers from last season, including the league’s reigning Player of the Year Clayton Custer of Overland Park, Kan. Coach is hoping for a breakout year from shooting guard Bruno Skokna of Zagreb, Croatia.

Bracketology 101: Loyola University Chicago, a private university founded in 1870 as St. Ignatius College, is one of the nation’s largest Jesuit, Catholic universities, with an enrollment of more than 17,000 students.

Its athletic teams were first known as the Maroon and Gold, but became the Ramblers in 1926. Because the football team played most of its game on the road, sports reporters dubbed the team “the Ramblers,” because it rambled hither and yon about the country. Ramblers stuck.

The first mascot arrived on the scene in 1980. Bo Rambler was his name, and “he looked like a hobo with a big, giant head,” said Jim Collins, who manages Loyola’s campus television station.

Bo was eventually replaced in 2000 by “LU,” a wolf. The character has evolved into an overstuffed, loveable guy; a big hugger.

The idea for the wolf reportedly came from the heraldic shield of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1541.

Legend has it that the family, living in northern Spain near the Bay of Biscay, was so generous that after feeding all the humans who came by, they would then put out a pot to feed wild animals including wolves.

The image of two wolves and a cauldron adorns the family coat of arms and has also been adopted by many Jesuit universities, colleges and high schools across the country.

Go you mighty Ramblers; beat the Southern Illinois Salukis.

To go home again, click 3 times

The recovery of Judy Garland’s sparkly, ruby red slippers in early September by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Minneapolis, Minn., has sparked a renewed interest in the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”

Garland played Dorothy Gale, the young girl from Kansas. A tornado struck the farmhouse where she lived with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and carries it off to who-knows-where.

The adventure begins as Dorothy skips merrily along the yellow brick road with her dog Toto, a frisky Cairn Terrier, to find the Wizard. He is the obstinate know-it-all who can get her back to Kansas.

Dorothy’s famous red shoes were covered in about 2,300 sequins, which were dazzling in Technicolor, a revolutionary filmmaking innovation at that time.

In the movie, the slippers originally belonged to the Wicked Witch of the East, but she was crushed when the twister dropped the farmhouse on top of her. When the Wicked Witch of the West came to retrieve her dead sister’s slippers, she discovered that the Good Witch of the North (Glinda) had beat her to the scene and magically transferred the slippers to Dorothy’s feet.

Britta Arendt, editor of the Herald-Review newspaper, which is published twice a week in Grand Rapids, Minn., has been following this case ever since the theft was reported in 2005 to the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD).

She said, “the slippers, one of three other known existing pairs used in the filming” of the classic movie “were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, the birthplace of Frances Gumm, whose stage name was Judy Garland.”

“The slippers were on loan to the museum by a private collector as part of a 10-week traveling tour when they were stolen,” Arendt wrote.

“Sometime between 5:45 p.m. on Aug. 27 and 9:45 a.m. on Aug. 28 (in 2005), a burglar broke a window in the museum’s back door and entered,” Arendt continued. “The thief smashed a Plexiglas case in the museum’s gallery and made off with the slippers that were insured for $1 million. The alarm did not sound to a central dispatch station. No fingerprints were left behind.”

Dagnabbit; it seemed like the perfect crime. The GRPD had no evidence and no clues to work with. Police Sgt. Robert Stein said: “All we had was a single sequin that had fallen off one of the slippers.”

As of press time, the FBI would only confirm that its “sting operation” is related to insurance fraud allegations, and its roundup of persons of interest is ongoing.

“The FBI transported the slippers to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., where conservators were able to conduct an in-depth examination and analysis, including evidence of wear and details unique to their use in the 1939 film,” Arendt reported.

Erin Blasco, writing from Smithsonian.com, picked up the story from here. She said that Dawn Wallace, an objects conservator, spent more than 200 hours examining the museum’s long-cherished pair of ruby slippers that had been contributed by an anonymous donor in 1979.

Could Wallace help solve the 13-year-old Grand Rapids mystery?

“Wallace checked every inch” of the shoes the FBI brought in,” Blasco said. “Her expertise with the Smithsonian’s ruby slippers made her uniquely qualified to spot any minute clues the shoes may offer. The conservation work was a ‘sequin by sequin sequence,’ she likes to joke.”

One explanation about the dislodged sequin could be the wear and tear on the shoes caused by multiple takes of Dorothy clicking the heels of the slippers together three times and repeating the phrase, “There’s no place like home.”

Blasco reported a bizarre revelation in the Smithsonian laboratory. She said: “The museum’s pair is not identical. The heel caps, bows, width and overall shape do not match; the shoes were brought together from two separate sets.

“But in examining the recovered shoes, conservators found the left to the museum’s right and the right to the museum’s left,” she wrote. “When reunited, the four shoes created two matching pairs – twins.”

World peace was the dream of Dag H.

Senior citizens around the world remember the contributions made by the late Dag Hammarskjöld as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

He perished more than 57 years ago (Sept. 18, 1961) in a mysterious airplane crash in Central Africa…while trying to attain a peaceful resolution to the Congo crisis there.

It’s vitally important to introduce his legacy to more recent – and future – generations.

In a brief autobiography written for a radio program in 1953, Hammarskjöld spoke of the influence of his Swedish parents: “From generations of soldiers and government officials on my father’s side, I inherited a belief that no life was more satisfactory than one of selfless service to your country – or humanity. This service required a sacrifice of all personal interests, but likewise the courage to stand up unflinchingly for your convictions.”

“From scholars and clergymen on my mother’s side, I inherited a belief that, in the very radical sense of the Gospels, all men were equals as children of God, and should be met and treated by us as our masters in God.”

As a young man, Hammarskjöld was a scholastic all-star, earning a doctorate in economics as well as a law degree at Uppsala University in Sweden, an esteemed institution of higher learning that was founded in 1477. It is here that he also studied the humanities, with emphasis on linguistics, literature, theology, history, art and music. He was fluent in four languages.

In athletics, he was described as “competent in gymnastics, a strong skier and a mountaineer.” In short, Hammarskjöld qualified as a “Renaissance man,” a person with “many talents and areas of knowledge.”

Hammarskjöld was selected as the U.N. Secretary-General in April 1953, succeeding the organization’s first Secretary-General Trygve Lie of Norway, who served six years and had resigned in November 1952.

Lester B. Pearson of Canada received a sufficient number of votes to win the seat, but he was vetoed by the Soviet Union. (A well-respected Canadian diplomat, Pearson nearly became the first Secretary-General in 1946, but he was vetoed by the Soviet Union then, too.)

Unexpectedly, Soviet ambassador Valerian Zorin declared that he would be voting for Hammarskjöld on the next ballot. The announcement set off a flurry of diplomatic activity. Hammarskjöld represented Sweden at the United Nations, but not much was known about him or his qualifications.

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the U.S. ambassador, was quite satisfied, however, and said Hammarskjöld “may be as good as we can get.”

The Soviets had hoped to seat a Secretary-General who would focus on administrative issues and refrain from participating in political discussion. Hammarskjöld was deemed “harmless” by the Soviets. Hammarskjöld’s reputation at the time was, in the words of biographer Emery Kelèn, “that of a brilliant economist, an unobtrusive technician and an aristo-bureaucrat.”

Regarding the latter compound modifier, it is true that Hammarskjöld grew up in a castle in Sweden, and his family was part of Sweden’s societal upper crust. Assuming, however, that Hammarskjöld would be “more concerned with procedure or policy than with people’s needs” proved to be a vast misjudgment of the man’s character. Hooray and dagnabbit, Dag was no puppet!

The Christian side of Hammarskjöld was revealed by famed journalist Pauline Frederick. She said Hammarskjöld often referred to the United Nations headquarters building in New York City as “just a house” – noting that “this house must have one room dedicated to silence.”

He was instrumental in creating the “Meditation Room.” Hammarskjöld personally planned and supervised its every detail. The room is 30 feet long, 18 feet wide at the entrance and 9 feet wide at the other end, giving it a wedge-shaped appearance.

Frederick quoted Hammarskjöld as saying, “We want a stillness and a setting in which no noise would impinge on our imagination.”

There are no chairs, only benches. In the center of the room is a 6.5-ton rectangular block of iron ore, polished on the top and illuminated from above by a single spotlight. Hammarskjöld saw it as “a meeting of the light, of the sky and the earth...it is the altar to the God of all….”

The room was completed in 1957 and is open to the public. Hammarskjöld wrote a message that continues to be distributed to the visitors:

“We all have within us a center of stillness surrounded by silence. People of many faiths will meet here, and for that reason there are simple things that speak to us all with the same language. There is an ancient saying that the sense of a vessel is not in its shell but in the void. So it is with this room. It is for those who come here to fill the void with what they find in their center of stillness.”

Many voices have suggested that the world needs more leaders like Dag Hammarskjöld. Leaders of this magnitude, unfortunately, are few and far between. We celebrate that he came along when he did.

Sargasso Sea is Atlantic Ocean trash heap

A floating island of plastic-laden trash has been detected off the coast of North Carolina in the Sargasso Sea region in the Northern Atlantic Ocean.

Named the “Atlantic Ocean Garbage Patch,” it poses health risks to animals, birds, other marine mammals and humans.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tells us that the Sargasso Sea is the only sea without a land boundary.

Interestingly, the Sargasso Sea is defined by ocean currents. The Gulf Stream establishes the Sargasso Sea’s western boundary, the North Atlantic Current is the northern boundary, the Canary Current lies to the east, and the southern boundary is the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. Hence, the Sargasso Sea’s borders are dynamic and reflect seasonal variations, NOAA reports.

Bermuda is the most identifiable prominent land mass within the Sargasso Sea region. About 61,000 people live on the island.

NOAA said: “The Sargasso Sea is named for a genus of seaweed called sargassum, which floats freely and reproduces by vegetative fragmentation on the high seas. Other seaweeds reproduce and begin life on the floor of the ocean.”

“Sargassum provides a home to an amazing variety of marine species. Turtles use sargassum mats as nurseries where hatchlings have food and shelter,” NOAA noted.

NOAA added: “The Sargasso Sea is a spawning site for threatened and endangered eels as well as white marlin, shark and dolphinfish. Humpback whales annually migrate through the Sargasso Sea. Commercial fish, such as tuna, and birds also migrate through the Sargasso Sea and depend on it for food.”

Unfortunately, the Sargasso Sea is one of the five garbage patches found around the world.

Scientifically, these areas are known as ocean gyres. A gyre is a large system of circular ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and forces created by Earth’s rotation.

The water circulates in a slow spiral. Winds are light and the currents tend to push any floating material into the low-energy center of the gyre. The sea garbage is in a state of never-ending rotation.

NOAA scientists refer to the gyre contents as “trash soup, a collection of pelagic plastic particles, consumer products and sludge. The plastic particles seen of the surface of the water form just a portion of what’s there, since plastic also gets pushed down below the surface.

“Since plastic doesn’t biodegrade, what is thrown into the ocean will always be there. Trillions of these plastics get trapped in the floating trash pile,” NOAA contends.

Toxic chemicals that do not dissolve in water are there, too, “absorbed by plastic just like a sponge.”

The Sargasso Sea is one of the areas that should be protected as an Ocean Sanctuary, according to Greenpeace, the international environmental organization, which is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Additionally, the issue of ocean-dwelling plastics has caught the attention of The World Counts, a web-based project that originated in Copenhagen, Denmark. It seeks to “raise awareness of important global challenges and inspire consumer-driven action to reverse negative trends.”

The World Counts counters have identified the plastic garbage patches as negative trends, with far-reaching implications to the environment and to health.

The principals of World Counts – Esben Larsen, Karsten Bjerring Olsen and Victor Emanouilov – say: “Our current consumer society is not sustainable. Basically, products are made from natural resources and eventually turned into waste. With a limited amount of natural resources, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we can’t run such a system forever.”

“We, as consumers, can make a positive difference by paying more attention to the things we buy,” they advise.

There’s a Southern protocol for aging and death

Have you noticed that Southerners seem to handle aging and death with a healthy blend of reverence and irreverence?

The “Golden Years” has given author and folklorist Roger Welsch, now 81, a platform to transition from storyteller to geezer-at-large.

(Welsch was discovered by Charles Kuralt, who brought him on his “On the Road” television series for the CBS Evening News. They worked together for many years.)

Roger Welsch’s father, Chris Welsch, was struck by lightning at age 14 and was in a coma for almost a week. The boy survived but was deaf for the rest of his life.

“At 65, I began to go deaf, the result not of lightning but of a lifetime a rock and roll music and unmufflered tractor engines,” Roger Welsch wrote. “I grew to understand how Dad dealt with his physical problems; he laughed at them.”

“From his tiniest problems to his biggest, he laughed. Never with irony or cruelty, and almost always at himself.”

No question, laughter is the best medicine for recovery from illness and disease as well as an antidote for the miseries associated with growing old.

Hearing aids jokes became a Chris Welsch specialty. The doctor looked into his patient’s ear and sputtered, “There’s a suppository in here.”

The unflustered patient replied: “So, that’s where my hearing aid went.”

When one’s memory begins to fail…and one’s “forgetery” seems to take control, Roger Welsch recommends making a to-do list. He said: “Each morning, I make a list of what I have to do that day, and then I know I am done when I lose the list.”

Welsch said he believes the ideal retirement party is a private affair with no fanfare, “so people don’t drop by your place and bother you” afterward…because they think you need company…and drone and drool on with idle, rocking-chair chit-chat.

He said: “A couple of weeks ago I was jarred into a cruel reality when I got a letter from a friend notifying me that I was going to be his ‘vacation destination’ for the summer, and he’d be dropping by to spend a few days just sitting on my back porch with me to help me pass the time.”

“I marked ‘Deceased’ on the envelope and sent it back by express mail in hopes of heading him off before he loaded up the RV and headed my way. The Golden Years are bad enough without becoming a ‘vacation destination.’”

There is a softer side to Roger Welsch. He concludes: “Now, after all that whining and bellyaching (about the perils of growing old), here’s the bottom line: The Golden Years actually aren’t all that bad. In fact, I’m having a pretty good time of it despite the occasional glitch in the hitch.”

He said: “Every new problem that comes along has the advantage of reminding me that things could be worse, and there’s considerable hope that they will be better. Besides, what’s the alternative?”

Welsch transfers the baton to Southern writers Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays. They are co-authors of the book Being Dead Is No Excuse: The Official Ladies Guide to Hosting the Perfect Funeral.

The co-authors are about as Southern as you can get. Home is Greenville, Miss., in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.

They report that Southern funerals are akin to church socials, and “you can always tell when a Methodist dies, because there are lots of casseroles.”

Southern funerals are all about food and drink, fellowship and music. For the reception following the funeral and burial, Metcalfe and Hays say: “Poulet John Wesley (fried chicken) is the ecumenical dish…it can sit on the sideboard for hours and still be delicious.”

As a side dish, serve up some Methodist Party Potatoes. The recipe is in the book, but it starts with frozen hash brown potatoes. Other ingredients are sharp cheddar cheese, onions, sour cream, cheddar cheese soup in a can, butter and corn flakes. (The Episcopalians serve up a dish that’s nearly identical but call it Liketa Died Potatoes.)

The funereal chilled dish of choice is Bing Cherry Salad with Coca-Cola. You will need cherry Jell-O, canned crushed pineapple, canned black cherries (and the juice from both), a 16-ounce bottle of Coke (not in a can) and pecans.

The authors conclude that a Greenville, Miss., “funeral is always a time of stress, and everybody realizes immediately afterward, you need two things: friends and alcohol.” Metcalfe and Hays call the latter a “restorative cocktail.”

Today, Sept. 9, 2018, was my opportunity to cross the bridge to become age 70. I did so with a smile on my face and spring in my step…and a renewed faith in the Word.

A double rainbow was visible in the western sky to illuminate the way. It’s Sunday. Hurricane Florence is headed this way. Is this handwriting in the sky from those who now reside above?

Last surviving WW II U-boat captain laid to rest

A key figure from World War II – Capt. Reinhard Hardegen, commander of the German submarine known as the U-123 – died June 9, 2018, at age 105.

His passing closes yet another chapter in global military history.

Hardegen was the last of Germany’s U-boat captains, one of that nation’s most decorated “aces of the deep.”

His official World War II record as U-123 commander includes at least 17 ships sunk and four damaged.

The U-123 was one of the first U-boats deployed to patrol the waters off the eastern coast of North America as part of Germany’s Operation Drumbeat in December 1941.

Hardegen is credited with the first casualty of Operation Drumbeat, the sinking of the Cyclops. The New England Historical Society (NEHS) tells the story:

“On the evening of Jan. 11, 1942, Reinhard Hardegen, the audacious captain of U-123…spotted the big British freighter Cyclops, carrying Chinese sailors and cargo to the British Isles, 300 miles east of Cape Cod (Mass.) in Canadian waters near Nova Scotia. The U-123 sent a torpedo into the Cyclops that cut her in two.”

From there, Hardegen headed south toward the United States, and the NEHS report continues: “He didn’t have good charts, but that didn’t matter. The Montauk Point (N.Y.) Lighthouse beamed a helpful navigational aid.”

On Jan. 14, 1942, the U-123 spotted the Norness silhouetted against the brightly lit coast (of the New York City metropolitan area). The huge Panamanian tanker was carrying 12,200 tons of crude. The U-123 sunk the Norness with three torpedoes.

On Jan. 15, 1942, Hardegen struck again. The Coimbra, a British tanker full of oil, was torpedoed off New York’s Long Island coast, and “within minutes the explosion sent a fireball 650 feet into the sky,” NEHS reported.

The death toll from these three swift attacks by the U-123 was 126, while 142 people were rescued and survived.

In compiling Hardegen’s obituary, Joe Daraskevich of The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla., wrote that the decorated German submariner was “best known for an attack that took place just off the coast of Jacksonville Beach on April 10, 1942.”

At 10:20 p.m., the U-123 torpedoed the Gulfamerica about four miles offshore. The tanker was on its maiden voyage, having left Port Arthur, Texas, laden with 101,500 barrels of furnace oil, destined for New York City.

“There were guys who sank more ships, but nobody did it with an audience like Hardegen did,” said Scott Grant, a Jacksonville historian.

The Beaches Museum & History Park in Jacksonville Beach recalled: “Hearing the explosions out at sea, people all along the beach rushed outside to watch in shock and horror as the U-boat continued its assault on the ship.” Several thousand people reportedly stood in awe along the shoreline.

Of the 48 men on the Gulfamerica, 29 survived the attack and 19 perished.

The museum scribe wrote: “While the attack was swift, the tanker took several days to sink completely, and the effect of the attack was lasting. A ban on nighttime lighting at the beach was issued following the event to avoid illuminating other American ships for the enemy. The war had reached the shores of northeast Florida.”

After the war, Hardegen returned to his hometown of Bremen, Germany, located in the northwestern section of the country on the River Wesser near the North Sea. He served for two decades in the Bremen State Parliament.

He made a well-publicized return to the United States after the 1990 publication of Michael Gannon’s book, “Operation Drumbeat.” Hardegen said at the time that he wanted to “show Americans that the enemies of yesterday are friends of today. Now, I sink putts, not ships.”

“I was a German submarine commander, not a Nazi commander,” Hardegen said in a 1990 article in The Florida Times-Union. “I did my duty for my country, not for (Adolf) Hitler.”

Blimps help save the day in World War II

One of the remnants of World War II in eastern North Carolina is the Navy’s Weeksville dirigible hangar (a big blimp garage) in Pasquotank County, about 9 miles outside of Elizabeth City.

The site is now owned and operated by TCOM, L.P., an airship manufacturing company based in Columbia, Md., and used as a manufacturing and testing location. The massive corrugated soft steel structure is 1,040 feet long, 150 feet high and 296 feet wide.

Writing for Our State magazine in January 2012, freelancer Earl Swift described it this way:

“One moment the view from the two-lane road south of Elizabeth City is a predictable album of soybeans, farmhouses and thickets of loblolly.” And then, all of a sudden, dagnabbit, “an enormous, silver spacecraft – or something – looms.

“It’s big beyond sense: 20 stories high, humpbacked and futuristic. Or rather, an old-fashioned notion of what the future might look like. Its size defies superlatives,” Swift said. “An arching roof relies on arching steel trusses, rather than columns, for its support. A tractor-trailer becomes a toy on a floor the size of six football fields.

“Designed to shelter six of the Navy’s patrol blimps, it actually accommodated nine, with room to spare. Three battleships would fit side by side, as would a platoon of Statues of Liberty,” Swift said.”

“…The structure is a monolithic monument to a mostly forgotten chapter of World War II – a hangar for U.S. Navy blimps that helped defeat Nazi Germany’s infamous U-boats,” Swift said.

The hangar was commissioned as an LTA (lighter than air) Naval Air Station more than 76 years ago on April 1, 1942, and the Navy’s first blimp mission out of Weeksville in the Battle of the Atlantic occurred June 8, 1942.

Weeksville was as “an ideal southern location” for a naval air station for LTA craft, the second in the country, to complement New Jersey’s Lakehurst blimp base. Weeksville beat out 42 other sites that were considered by the Navy, Swift said.

He said the U.S. government paid a little more than $100 an acre for the 822-acre site.

In the years before helicopters, Swift said, “the best vehicle to detect German U-boats was the dirigible, commonly referred to as the blimp. Blimps could fly slowly for extended periods, hover and carry the sensors and armament to protect the shipping lanes off the East Coast.”

“From the deck of a surface ship, a submerged sub was invisible. From the gondola of a blimp, however, a U-boat at shallow depth was plain to see. A blimp could stay in the air for two full days without refueling. If a sub dived deep, blimp crews could sniff it out with an array of tools the Navy perfected – sensors that detected the vibrations of turning screws and the magnetism of a hidden boat’s steel hull,” Swift said.

“Once found, a U-boat was in trouble. Blimp crews could summon warships to the scene or tangle with the marauder themselves. Harmless and soft and quiet though they seemed, Navy blimps were armed with depth charges and machine guns.

“To see one blimp in flight was an occasion,” Swift said. “To see three or four rise over the treetops and nose eastward into battle, their size belying their speed, was jaw-dropping. They made an even bigger impression on U-boat crews.

“Once deployed on patrol runs and as convoy escorts, the blimps all but halted German sub attacks on Allied merchantmen,” Swift reported.

“The blimps rarely mounted an attack, but their presence helped turn the Battle of the Atlantic. Allied shipping losses off the coast fall to three in 1943, to zero in 1944, to two the following year.”

With the end of World War II in 1945, the blimps left. Weeksville was reduced to a Naval Auxiliary Air Station, and the Navy used the facility for storage of surplus fixed-wing aircraft, eventually housing a maximum of 576 aircraft.

On the wall of the Ocracoke post office was a government-issued poster. It depicted Uncle Sam pointing his finger, with the words: “Loose Lips Could Sink Ships.”

Coastal North Carolinians heeded that advice to “hush”…and bring World War II to an end. Hallelujah.